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There were still five months until the start of the College Cup. During this time, Jacob needed to ensure that the combat power of several of his Pokémon reached Champion level, and he also had other training plans in mind.
First was the special training plan for Noibat. Jacob had clear ideas about Noibat's position on his team.
Noibat's potential was currently the lowest among Jacob's Pokémon, but as his first partner, Jacob had special feelings for it. Therefore, he had carefully and repeatedly crafted detailed plans for Noibat's future training.
First of all, Noibat would definitely not be able to compete with the future Sceptile and Charizard in terms of Special Attack, so it was clearly not suitable as the main special attacker. However, considering the unique characteristic of Noivern—its telepathic abilities—Jacob saw other possibilities.
Therefore, Noibat's positioning would be most suitable as a support and harassment specialist, with some Special Attack output to supplement the team. This role would be extremely valuable in Double Battles.
With the positioning clear, Jacob's future training of Noibat would move in this direction.
First, it needed to learn Tailwind, followed by Roost for recovery, and finally Super Fang as an exceptionally powerful attacking move.
Of course, standard support moves like Protect were essential, as well as Taunt and Substitute. Dragon Tail, with its forced-switch effect, was also necessary.
Only by mastering this array of moves could Noibat successfully serve as a support specialist.
For the Special Attack side, Noibat needed to first master powerful Special Attack moves like Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Air Slash, and Hurricane. Then it would learn various type coverage moves such as Psychic, Dark Pulse, and Shadow Ball that Sceptile and Charizard couldn't learn, to cover the team's offensive blind spots.
In fact, Noivern's Special Attack output wasn't particularly strong compared to other Dragon-types, but its diverse movepool was definitely a highlight. In addition to its two basic moves, Draco Meteor and Hurricane, it also had a powerful non-STAB move, Boomburst, that was quite devastating.
However, with so many Special Attack Pokémon on Jacob's team, Noibat would need to serve primarily as a support and harassment specialist.
All the moves that support Pokémon needed to master required money to purchase, and moves like Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, and Dark Pulse were all in high demand. The price to learn each of these once exceeded 50,000 Pokédollars.
As for Protect and Taunt, it went without saying that their prices were even higher. By this calculation, it would cost millions of Pokédollars just to train Noivern and teach it its essential moves.
Money, money, money—it was truly important.
...
After planning the training program for Noibat, the next step was Grovyle.
Grovyle's role on Jacob's team was as the primary mixed attacker, focusing on both Physical Attack and Special Attack. Although its Physical Attack wasn't as strong as its Special Attack, it won out with a deeper physical movepool. While its Special Attack was stronger, the Special movepool was somewhat shallower.
Only by mastering both offensive styles could it truly excel. In the future, Sceptile would definitely become an all-around combatant, able to battle effectively against all Pokémon except Ice-types.
As for TMs, it needed to learn Swords Dance within these five months, and ideally moves such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, Thunder Punch, and X-Scissor to increase its attack coverage.
...
Next was Charmander. Jacob had always been hesitant about its training plan. A Pokémon as powerful as Charmander with its Solar Power ability was undoubtedly more suitable for the Special Attack route.
The Solar Power ability combined with the Drought ability of Torkoal, nicknamed "Mini Groudon," would give it the power to dominate the battlefield. At the same time, if it held the Charizardite Y Mega Stone, after Mega Evolution, the Drought ability would act as a secondary weather setter.
Therefore, from any angle, Charmander seemed more suitable for the Special Attack route. By specializing in one aspect, Charmander could definitely be trained to become an extremely fearsome Special attacker.
But in this scenario, Jacob's team would have too many Special attackers. There was another consideration as well: what if Jacob obtained a Charizardite X Mega Stone instead of Charizardite Y? Then what would he do with Charmander? He would have no choice but to switch to the Physical Attack route.
How should he choose?
Jacob fell into deep thought, unsure whether to have Charmander specialize in one direction. He was genuinely torn. The ceiling for Charmander on the Special Attack side would be higher—if there were no Pokémon that could counter Mega Charizard Y, such as Special Defense monsters like Blissey or Chansey, it would definitely be a formidable presence. But the Physical Attack side of Mega Charizard X would better complement the team, making up for its Physical Attack weakness, while also allowing for a mixed attacking strategy that would be more versatile.
Jacob was truly undecided. Since both plans had their pros and cons, he decided to ask Charmander for its opinion. Sometimes a Pokémon's own wishes were also very important.
For example, if a male Kirlia preferred close combat, it would undoubtedly be more suitable to evolve into Gallade. If it preferred ranged attacks, evolving into Gardevoir would be more appropriate.
When faced with such choices, Trainers often cultivated Pokémon according to their own wishes, ignoring the Pokémon's own feelings.
...
As for the yet-unhatched Dreepy, Jacob's only request was for it to evolve as quickly as possible. Before evolving into Dragapult, Dreepy's combat power was pitifully weak. Skills and other considerations could be put aside—the only priority was to accelerate its growth.
After finalizing the plan, Jacob looked at the three Pokémon beside him, walked over to Charmander, and said, "Charmander."
"Char."
After a month of bonding, Charmander had recently developed a close relationship with Jacob. Upon hearing its name, it immediately ran to Jacob's side and gazed up at him attentively.
"Charmander, I want to ask you a question. Do you prefer rushing in to fight other Pokémon in close combat, or do you prefer using fire attacks to strike enemies from a distance?" Jacob said, looking into Charmander's eyes seriously. "This question is very important. I hope you can answer honestly. If you like close combat, raise your claws. If you prefer ranged attacks, shake your tail."
Hearing Jacob's question, Charmander began to think seriously. If it were newly hatched, it would definitely have preferred fighting enemies up close. However, after being educated and occasionally defeated by Noibat, it had gradually realized something important.
Physical strength alone wasn't always enough to win, as demonstrated by Noibat, which relied on its two tricky moves—Supersonic and Double Team—to constantly outmaneuver opponents and emerge victorious.
Sometimes, battles could be won without making direct contact with the enemy. Charmander had gradually begun to appreciate this fighting style and no longer wished to rely solely on brute force.
"Char." Charmander shook its tail, making its choice.
When Jacob saw this response, he was somewhat surprised. He had always assumed Charmander would prefer close combat but hadn't expected it to choose Special Attack.
"Are you sure? Charmander, I want you to think carefully about your choice."
"Char!"
Charmander nodded firmly. Having made its decision, it naturally wouldn't regret it.
"Okay, I understand. Well then, Charmander, we'll have to train even harder from now on!"
...